Of Silver Horses
by The What-If Writer
Summary: ONE-SHOT. Summery One chilly Halloween, The young Guardian of Belief finds himself running into Pitch while trying to deal with his new, unexpected pet. Please read the fic 'Nightmare Sand and the Silver Sands' first to avoid spoilers for the fic and to understand.


**_IMPORTANT NOTE: Please read the fic 'Nightmare Sand and the Silver Sands' first to avoid spoilers for the fic and to understand the characters._**

**_Summery: One-shot surrounded Pitch and my OC. One chilly Halloween The young Guardian of Belief finds himself having problems with his new unexpected pet, and subsequently runs into Pitch on his misadventure._**

* * *

_Of Silver Horses._

_"Come on..."_

An English-accented voice broke the silence of the street that night.

It was a chilly night, with frost coating the grass and roads like icing on a cake, the skies clouded over like dark grey smoke, the Moon's light barely visible behind its foggy colour. The streets were empty now that Halloween was only a few honors from ending; All the children had ended their trick-or-treating and returned home to feast on their findings with family and friends.

One child remained oddly out of character on this day. Clad not in a frightening- or perhaps hoping to be frightening-costume, with no trace of a dark colour or mimic of a grotesque creature making up any part of his clothing, he would've stuck out like a sore thumb.

That is, had anyone been able to see him.

The child had the physical appearance of one of ten years or less; With a soft face and pointed nose. Silver hair parted in the middle, his fringe doing likewise. It bounced a little with every hop-like step he took, sending a soft shower of silver glitter floating onto his shoulders. His soft, puffy suit was the precise colour of his hair.

He was pacing back and forth on bare, silver-coated feet, clearly frustrated. The reason for his negative feelings was a certain silver horse standing nearby, watching his wander around with disinterest.

Jo had heard the idea of the past coming back to bite you, but he honesty didn't think whoever said it had meant it. It had been a long time ago- more than he could keep track of- when he'd launched himself into the air like a spring, hitting his hand against a ferocious, malevolent Nightmare; A horse made entirely of Nightmare Sand, sand of which belonged to the Nightmare King himself.

He hadn't realized that in that second, his own sand had embedded itself in the mythical horse- and over the years it had (apparently) grown until the sand constructing the horse turned completely silver.

Then, her loyalty had turned to him.

Sandman and North had found the silver mare galloping around the North Pole, aimlessly. Since she was made of his silver sand, they decided to let Jo take care of her.

Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea. The mare was incredibly stubborn and never listened to anything he said unless she wanted to. This was rare.

He rode her a few times- one of the things she enjoyed was galloping through the skies. Jo had loved it, too...or he would've if she didn't proceed to buck him off head first afterwards.

"You don't listen to anything I say..." He said in his normal, husky voice, his pacing continuing. He kicked his foot into the air subconsciously as he turned. Placing one hand into his large pocket, he felt inside for something that Bunnymund had said would always cheer him up: a bar of chocolate.

He ripped the wrapper quietly, still trying to figure out what to do with his new pet. She neighed behind him in a mocking tone. That was the other thing; she was like Tyzentray sometimes...very critical. But more mean.

Jo broke off a piece of the large, creamy bar and began chewing slowly. Hm. Chocolate did cheer him up, mostly...Now what wast hat other thing he was aiming to do today? ah yes...

"I'm supposed to practice making sand figures." He mused to his horse, who regarded him with mild interest. He swallowed his mouthful of chocolate "Do you want to see them?"

* * *

Not too far away, a dark figure loomed in the shadows. Dark, spiked hair adorned his lean head, a pair of yellow, luminous eyes scanning the vacant streets below.

Halloween was one of the few nights Pitch enjoyed; Both adults and children alike terrified out of their wits...by each other no less. And some meager-looking decorations he found rather amusing. Swooping down from the rooftops, the tall figure landed with his hands placed calmly behind his back, a small smile placed on his lips as he began strolling through the empty roads. He regarded the sky above as his nightmare sand slithered like serpents past the lights, intent of finding some adorable dream to corrupt into a fearful nightmare.

Chuckling to himself, he continued his little walk undisturbed. That is, until he heard a very familiar voice murmuring somewhere near by- one he had not expected to hear in a long time.

Turning a corner and still masked in the shadows, the spirit of fear spotted a small, silver figure wandering back and forth in front of a mare- one that resembled one of his nightmares closely, only made completely of silver sand rather than black.

The mare watched the boy wave his arms like that of a certain Sandman, and Pitch rose a brow in interest as it transfigured into a tiny replica of the horse standing nearby.

Smiling, the boy began running after it as if galloped around them, only to slip on a slab of ice nearby and fall flat on his back. The silver mare gave off a nigh that almost resembled a laugh, shaking its head and turning slightly.

Pitch laughed quietly, and completely unnoticed by the boy, began approaching slowly.

Jo picked up a broken piece of ice and hurtled it at the laughing mare, hitting her effectively on the side of the head. It hadn't harmed her (though how you could harm sand he would never know) but it clearly annoyed her.

"You see, It's like your not even my horse..." Jo muttered as he got to his feet, brushing off sprinkles of frost as he did so. "You never..."

_**"How intriguing."**_

Jo froze like the puddles and drops of rain around him, hair standing on end. The silver mare rose up on her hind legs in alarm, neighing in distress and backing away slightly. A dark yet humorous chuckle filled the air around them.

_**"It's been quite a while, Joseph. Alas, it seems you have been kept quite busy."**_

Jo swallowed. This wasn't possible. Pitch couldn't be here.

But alas, he was. And he had no choice than to turn around. It was going to happen sooner or later. And so, eyes wide and head lowered anxiously, Jo turned around to find Pitch smiling down at him. Taking a sharp intake of breath, the silver-haired boy stumbled back from him, legs bent encase he needed to take off in a run. Pitch tilted his head, smile widening.

_**"Really, now. There's no need for such haste." **_He turned his attention to the horse standing nearby. Jo felt a pang of panic. Surely Pitch didn't think he was copying him, did he? The last thing he needed now was the Nightmare King mad at him...

That thought in mind, he'd almost forgotten that this was Pitch he was talking about; Someone he'd not seen in years.

"Why...where..." Jo couldn't find the right question. Pitch rose a brow at him as if contemplating. Then, he answered for him:

_**"What have I been doing for almost fifteen years?"**_ He laughed frighteningly at Jo's quick, almost timid nod. Jo shuddered at Pitch's sharp-tooth smirk. _**"Nothing of your concern just yet."**_

Maybe now was a good time to leave, Jo thought to himself. He glanced at his horse nearby. Surely she saw the urgency of the situation and would agree to take him away...?

_**"That horse of yours seems poorly trained. I would suggest a pair of reins." **_

Jo found it terrifying, the way Pitch could almost read his thoughts. It was obvious to the man that he was scared now, judging by Pitch's sinister look.

Suddenly his silver mare materialized beside him, knocking her head against his, giving off a soft, almost friendly whiny. He petted her absent-mindedly. Pitch laughed, tilting his head to the side mockingly.

_**"Aw. What an adorable scene."**_

Jo's curious gaze followed him as he strode calmly off to the side, seating himself of a bench nearby. He flicked a hand, forming a small sand figure out of nowhere and sending it towards them. Jo jumped back, hands out encase of an attack. The tiny Nightmare slammed into the silver mare's temple, startling her and sending her galloping to the side in alarm. Pitch laughed again.

_**"Easily startled."**_

Jo didn't know what Pitch was doing here, but it didn't look like the older sand-master was intent on harming him. He wandered closer towards him cautiously, noticing he was watching the skies thoughtfully. Jo tilted his head and followed his gaze, but saw nothing.

He involuntary pulled out his half-eaten bar of chocolate and sat down on the other side of the bench. Pitch regarded him and his timid behaviour with clear amusement, but said nothing.

Jo placed the wrapper on the bench beside him, leaving the rest of the chocolate sat on top of it as he chewed on the other piece, avoiding Pitch's sharp, yellow gaze. He decided to ask something he'd been wondering throughout their whole encounter.

"So...you're not here to..hurt me or Seress?"

Pitch turned his head, the corner of his lip curling up as he met Jo's questioning gaze.

_**"For now...no. I merely fancied a little walk. Halloween has proved to be quite impressive this year."**_

Jo could have kicked himself for being so foolish. Halloween, of course. How could he have missed it? obviously the master of fear itself would love to see people being scared out of their colorful costumes all night...

_**"The real question is: what are you doing out here?" **_Pitch regarded the boy sitting near with mild curiosity. Jo saw no point in lying. He nodded towards Seress, feeling a little more at ease despite knowing who the person sitting nearby was.

"I was taking Seress out to ride...she uh, flung me off again." He added this information with slight embarrassment.

Pitch smirked at the 'again_**' **_

_**"Indeed."**_

He glanced up at the sky again and noticed the faintest trail of gold in the clouds. Sandman was making an appearance; no doubt noticing the amount of nightmares brewing in this area. Perhaps he should take his leave.

But before he did, Jo saw a grey hand reach out and pluck the last piece of broken chocolate from the spread-out wrapper beside him. He watched in utter disbelief as Pitch popped it into his mouth without a word and stood up.

"You ate my chocolate..." He managed to murmur a few moments later. Pitch chuckled, but did not reply. Jo noticed he was looking up at the sky again. This time Jo spotted what he saw: a gold spark behind the clouds. He smiled.

"Sandy!"

Pitch turned to him, and instantly Jo felt like running away as fast as he could once he saw the sinister grin appearing on his face again.

_**"It seems our golden friend is making his appearance. Maybe we should give him a proper welcoming..."**_

As he said this, he turned around and rose an arm into the air. Instantly a cloud of black sand gathered in the air and morphed into two Nightmares that sped towards the golden slight in the sky. Jo was about to leap into the air to Sandman's aid when Pitch turned back to him. Jo was expecting an attack, or at least one dealt by a nightmare. Instead, Pitch widened his eyes dramatically and raised his arms like claws.

_**"Boo."**_

Jo nearly jumped out of his skin and tumbled back, Seress rushing forward and prodding her head against his back to sustain his balance. Pitch smirked and drew back into the shadows, both him and the Nightmares above vanishing into the shadows of the night.

* * *

Later Sandman would tap his foot silently as Jo explained himself and he'd probably not get any more cookies from North for a while (for being near Pitch more than five seconds) but one thing Jo knew for certain, wast hat Pitch had only been playing with Sandman and himself that night.

Seress's behavior did improve once Jo manged to get her to wear reins, oddly enough. Though she remained stubborn she wasn't as mean as he had been towards the young spirit.

Though Jo didn't know that he next encounter he had with Pitch, a situation that would involve a Frost- controlling spirit of mischief, that he would defiantly not be as merciful nor friendly...if that was what you could call it.

But, Jo did know that when the time came, he would be ready for whatever the Nightmare King had planned.

* * *

**_Prequel-fic._**

**_Please review. Can't wait for the movie...seriously._**


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